Study: Moms who carry boys show male DNA in their brains decades later

Liz AtwoodFor The Baltimore Sun

From guest blogger Liz Atwood: Now I know why I've lost interest in shopping, wearing jewelry and painting my nails. I thought I was just busy, but a new study says my boys may have changed my brain.

The report published last week finds that women who share the womb with a twin brother or have baby boys have slight traces of male DNA in their brains decades later. The study concludes that genetic material doesn't just past from mother to son, but from son to mother.

What all this means is still a mystery. Having a boy may alter a woman's brain in ways that make her more resilient to certain diseases and more vulnerable to others, the researchers say.

I live with two boys with raging hormones. Even the dog and the cat are males. I feel like I'm surrounded by way too much testosterone. The idea that these boys have also seeped into my brain is a little unsettling.

I sometimes look enviously at my girlfriends who have daughters. They bonded over Twilight movies and the Little House on the Prairie books. They do each other's hair and share each other's clothes. I’m sure it's not always fun, especially if all the women are PMSing at the same time.

But if my boys have left traces of their DNA in my brain, have they made me more like them in some way? Are they the reason I don’t like Justin Bieber? Have they inoculated me against Miley Cyrus? Thank goodness, I still don't like video games and I see no humor in fart jokes.